Santa Spider? would there have been a setting to get all of him in focus?

[JBW]

[rpcrowe]

Close ups like these have a very narrow depth of field. Perhaps if you could have used a smaller f/stop, you might have had a wider depth of field. Sometimes adding some light will allow a smaller f/stop and while still maintaining a shutter speed fast enough to freeze camera and subject movement. With living and moving subjects, focus stacking is often not a viable alternative.

Sometimes, shooting a side view of a little creepie-crawlie will get most of it in focus...

[jcuknz]

You close the aperture as far as you can and maybe use the bamboo stick to support the camera for the resulting longer shutter speed. You could hold back and achieve the framing by a crop of the little fellow. Stagecoach pointed this out to us a month or so ago
Shooting from above him would help as most of him would then be on the plane of focus .... head-on shots need to be focus- stacked if he remains still long enough to let you do that... not sure if GIMP has layers which are probably essential for that sort of thing. There maybe free focus stacking programmes Heliconfocus.com had one which left their name on the picture unless you paid them for the programme.

I have wondered if I was able to alter focus as the camera shot a burst sequence I would end up with the required frames but yet to try that out There was a good focus stacked image of a Rhinoscerous Beetle recently here.